Whose New Millennium?

Shulamit Reinharz is professor of sociology at Brandeis University and founding director of the Hadassah Research Institute on Jewish Women.

Calendars are one of the tools that groups use to define themselves. Less prominent than language, foods or clothing, the ways we mark time distinguish us from others. There is the Greek Orthodox calendar, the Chinese calendar, the Gregorian calendar, and the Jewish calendar, for instance, and undoubtedly many more.

Calendars reflect lunar or solar ways of counting off time. The Jewish calendar is a combination of lunar and secular counting, according to both lunar and solar cycles. The months and dates for holidays are determined by the phases of the moon. The seasons are based on the revolution of the earth around the sun. (see The Jewish Almanac, p. 239). "This dual system is necessary because the lunar year (twelve months) is approximately 11 days shorter than the solar year." Every month has 28 days, and every several years we add a month. Another major difference between the Gregorian calendar and the Jewish calendar is the starting point.

But there is a distinction between the two calendars that is far more meaningful than astronomical. The conventional calendar starts with the date of the birth of Jesus. According to this way of counting, we are now inching toward the 2000th year. For Jews, the birth of Jesus does not mark the beginning of time. Jews are and have been a minority worldwide except in Israel. Therefore in all countries where Jews live, it has been necessary for Jews to use the Christian calendar. In many cases, among the Jews themselves, however, the Jewish calendar is used in addition. Thus, this is the year 1999 in our environment, but 5760 among Jews.

When religious Jews refer to the Christian calendar, they write the date as such, 1999 C.E., which stands for the Common Era. Similarly, B.C.E. stands for 'before the Common Era." This way of indicating that one is using the common calendar differentiates the dates from B.C. which is "before Christ," and A.C. which is "after Christ"or A.D., "Anno Domini."

So, as we approach 2000, Jews may refer to the date as 2000 C.E. And they may not relate to this date as having as much significance as do non-Jews. If one does not start the counting of time with the birth of Christ, then we are not in a new millennium on January 1, 2000.

I assume that in religious Jewish neighborhoods in the United States there will not been much activity relating to the year 2000. Nor will there celebrating in Israel, which is a Jewish country with heavy influence by rabbis. The more assimilated the Jews, the more likely they are to celebrate the coming of the year 2000.

Not only is this the year 5760 rather than 1999 for Jews, but our new year is celebrated annually in early to mid-September rather than on December 31. The Jewish new year is called Rosh Hashanah, which means the beginning of the year, and it is a day (or two) of contemplation and prayer rather than an evening of revelry. The Jewish new year is a time spent in the synagogue and with family, rather than in hotels and restaurants with friends. The Jewish new year is the start of a long holiday cycle, in which Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Succot are tied together as a whole. The secular new year stands alone, or is tied commercially with Christmas.

Some Jewish people resent the excessive emphasis on the year 2000 as if it were meaningful to all. It would be courteous for people to remember that there is more than one calendar, more than one way of counting time, more than one way of celebrating change, and more than one culture in the world. Perhaps with the passage of time, we will get closer to this diverse, multi-cultural, mutually respectful way of understanding time and each other. Were that to occur, there truly would be something to celebrate!